American organization reveals Armenia’s scam
By Laman Sadigova
Global Financial Integrity, a non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C., has recently published a report, where Armenia ranked the 70th among other developing countries for “Illicit financial flows”.
The organization reports that $10 billion were withdrawn from Armenia during the past 10 years.
The illicit financial outflow has sharply intensified in Armenia in 2008, ahead of the recession. - $1.15 billion went out of the country (43.3 percent growth), but in 2009 it dwindled by 19.8 percent. In 2010, illegal financial outflow started growing again and reached $1.8 billion in 2013.
The enormous numbers of stolen money indicates on the high rank of its owners as ordinary businessmen or officials simply could not do it, bypassing the government.
For small and economically disadvantaged Armenia $10 billion is a huge amount of money that could help to “save” the economy. In fact, stealing such assets of money from the country can be classified as crimes against the nation.
These funds, if they stay in the country, could provide economic development and effective social protection systems as well as health services, job places, and much more. However, the country's rulers prefer looting of resources, the accumulation of personal wealth at the expense of ordinary citizens, forcing them to leave the country in a hope to escape.
Against the backdrop of the crisis in every sphere, the country continues to get multi-million-dollar loans while having no ability to “close” them. Part of the funds is spent on the repayment and servicing of previous debts, part of it is allocated to unnecessary projects.
Polls conducted among country residents have repeatedly showed that people do not see any future in Armenia either for themselves or for their children.
The public realizes that almost half of the current Armenian government officials are oligarchs who utilize their power to expand their own businesses.
Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit research and advisory organization, which produces high-caliber analyses of illicit financial flows, advises developing country governments on effective policy solutions, and promotes pragmatic transparency measures in the international financial system as a means to global development and security.
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